A photolithographic process among processes for fabricating an electronic device, such as a semiconductor device, is carried out in an in-line mode by using, in combination, a coating and developing system, namely, a unit for carrying out a coating process for applying a resist solution (hereinafter, referred to as “resist”) to a substrate, such as a wafer, and a developing process, and an exposure system for processing a substrate coated with a resist by an exposure process. More concretely, a predetermined circuit pattern is formed in a resist layer by subjecting a substrate to a series of processes including, for example, main steps of cleaning, dehydration baking, adhesion promotion (hydrophobicity impartation), resist application, prebaking, exposure, post-exposure baking and post-baking. Such an in-line photolithographic process is mentioned in Patent document 1.
Patent document 1: JP 2000-235949 A
The processing modules of this coating and developing system need to be tested by predetermined measurement and inspection at the time of installation and by periodic inspection to achieve accurate substrate processing and to prevent troubles. For example, the levelness of a substrate held by suction on a spin chuck needs to be measured for the inspection of a coating device (module), and the velocity of air acting on a substrate and heating temperature need to be measured for the inspection of a heat-processing device (module). It is desirable to measure the atmospheric pressure and the humidity on the surface of a substrate held in each module for inspection.
It has been usual to inspect the modules individually by measurement and to execute adjustment on the basis of measured data.